Selling the city
Western European cities have long understood the importance of promoting themselves to an international audience, but in Poland, cities have only recently discovered the power of promotion and are just starting to create new identities for themselves
People, cash and investments now flow between countries and cities at a greater rate than any time in history. This level of mobility gives people and businesses a great opportunity to live and invest wherever they find the right conditions. However, it also puts a huge responsibility on countries and cities to promote themselves as attractive locations in order not to get left behind in a world where everything is now open to competition. Cities not only have to set out an attractive offer, but must also convince prospective investors, inhabitants and tourists that they are the place for them.
"One of the consequences of globalization is that the world has become a product. Every country, every region, every city is compared with other countries, regions and cities. They have to fight for tourists, investors, for cultural and sports events, for the media's interest. In other words - globalization has made the world a supermarket. Nations are products on the shelf in the supermarket," says Simon Anholt, a specialist in brand managing.
Global supermarket
In this global supermarket, Polish cities occupy the highest or the lowest shelf, out of most customers' visual range. In the 2005 Anholt City Brands Index, a ranking of the world's city brands which shows how cities are perceived, Sydney, London, Paris, Rome and New York were the top five. The first Polish city, Warsaw, was in 51st position. However, this does not mean that Warsaw or any other Polish town can not jump into the top 10. In 2006 alone, foreign businessmen invested some $14.7 (zł.41) billion in Poland. The 16 million tourists who visited Poland that year left another $7.1 (zł.19.8) billion.
With every dollar or euro a foreigner spends, the chance that Poland and its cities will be better recognized rises. With a more recognizable image, Poland will attract more visitors and more investors. But, as the experts point out, there is only one way to achieve this: "Within the last 50 years, cities have been changing their position [in the City Brands Index], but none moved up if they did not invest in advertising," says Mirosław Boruc from the Institute of Polish Brands.
The value of advertising
Polish towns and cities started to realize the importance of advertising in the mid-1990s when, as a result of democratic reforms, local authorities became electable. Nowadays it is hard to find even the smallest town which does not have a promotional brochure or website. According to Professor Andrzej Szromnik from the Kraków University of Economics, local authorities have moved on from believing the provision of services is their primary function, as they did in the 1990s. Now they see promotion as their number-one role.
"We have passed the stage when it was necessary to convince authorities and inhabitants that they needed to spend money on promotion. Now virtually no one considers this money as wasted," says Szromnik.
The issue now is the quality of promotional campaigns. In order to attract visitors and investors from abroad, a city's promotional campaign must have a coherent strategy, which precisely defines the image of the city and effectively targets the groups for which they are created.
"It is necessary to have a strategy about who we want to speak to and what we want to say. When I look at the commercials of the majority of cities, I do not believe they can work, because I do not know to whom they are targeted," says Dariusz Kubuj from Ogilvy Brand Consulting. "When we choose a topic [for an ad] we must avoid taking the perspective of a person who lives in the city and is proud of it. We must take the viewpoint of a person who can choose from hundreds of other cities," Kubuj adds.
A unique identity
International cultural or sporting events can be a great boost to a city, even if it is not actually hosting them. During the 2006 soccer World Cup in Germany, Kraków, Gdańsk and Szczecin spent about E160,000 (zł.605,521) on billboard campaigns in Germany. Some cities invested in TV campaigns. Viewers of CNN and the BBC will be familiar with adverts for Warsaw produced by the Warsaw Destination Alliance.
In recent years Polish cities have been attempting to create specific images for themselves, distinct from other cities in the country and the region. Wrocław, with its beautiful old town and internationally renowned film and music festivals, wants to be seen as a city of culture. At the same time, with a university famed for its science and IT, the city is fighting for investors in the sector and wants to become the leading location for Polish IT.
Poznań - which due to its location on Poland's major east-west artery has a long tradition as a city of trade - is seeking to increase its presence on the international conference and trade-fair scene. Łód, with its famous film school, wants to build itself up into a center of the film industry. Moreover, as it is soon to be the hub of Poland's highway network, Łód also wants to attract more investors from the logistics, white goods and outsourcing sectors.
Professional help
Of course, cities that try to create an individual identity risk making the wrong choice, as well as failing to ensure they follow an effective strategy. That is why cities are increasingly choosing to cooperate not only with professional advertising companies, which can prepare a slick modern campaign, but also with consulting companies that help find a city's particular advantages.
Łód, for example, prepared its strategy in cooperation with McKinsey & Company. "When we mention during negotiations with investors that we have a strategy prepared by a consulting company, they begin to see the city as an attractive partner," says Agnieszka Sińska from Łód's city council.
Cooperation with professional partners inevitably means increased expenses and budgets for promotion. For instance, Poznań's authorities designated about zł.900,000 for promotion in 2005, zł.1.6 million in 2006 and this year they plan to spend nearly zł.2 million.
However, this strategy can also bring excellent results. "The numbers of tourists prove that our promotion is good. Last year about seven million people visited Kraków," says Marcin Helbin, spokesman of the city of Kraków.
Small-town aspirations
In comparison with rich, world-class cities, smaller ones that don't have a huge budget for promotion or any architecture, history or events to attract tourists, might appear to be fighting a losing battle. But practice shows that this is not necessarily true. If a town lacks the money for national- or international-level promotion, the right idea for an event or festival can get it noticed.
"We often hear about the promotion of huge cities because they have a lot of money. However, in smaller towns the quality of promoted events is much higher," says Janusz Malinowski, president of advertising firm Ströer Group in Poland and the organizer of the Polish City Promotion Festival, the first event dedicated to issues surrounding the promotion of Polish cities.
One example is Włocławek, one of the oldest towns in Poland which, though it boasts several beautiful medieval churches, could never compete in terms of historical monuments with its close neighbor Toruń. The local authorities had to find something else that could promote the town, and chose youth.
"We were looking for a way to promote the city which would get young people involved. There are some dance companies here in Włocławek, so we invited them to cooperate, and together we invented the 'Break Session' [break-dance] project," says Paweł Osiński from Włocławek's office for promotion. It started just three years ago with a budget of only zł.100,000 and a room for an audience of 1,200. This year the event had to be moved to a bigger building that holds more than 3,000 spectators. "This event draws young people from the whole of Poland to Włocławek. From year to year it expands, and this year we even invited some groups from abroad," adds Osiński.
Chrasznica, a small gmina in the Małopolskie voivodship with less than 8,000 residents, has been known for years for the cultivation of cabbage. Although this may not sound like much of an attraction, the local people used this tradition to promote the gmina and invented a cabbage festival. Tychy, a place frequently called a "cultural desert," holds the "Fiat is in Tychy. Lets honk about this" parade of Fiat cars to encourage people to show their pride in the city.
"These examples show that there is one rule [in city promotion] - it is necessary to have an idea and to have determination. If these two elements are present, anything can be organized," says Malinowski.
In terms of promotion Polish cities, both large and small, may still have a long way to go in order to catch up with their Western counterparts. However, experts are optimistic about the future. With a flood of European funds flowing into Poland, Polish cities have an opportunity to become serious players on the market for tourists and investments. All they have to do is reach out and take it.
